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Thursday, March 9, 2006 12:00 AM

Once more unto the breach

Bush's latest visit to New Orleans was a hollow pose, bringing nothing that will actually help rebuild the ruined city.

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  • Wednesday, March 8, 2006 08:26 PM

    No, it is "breach."

    I'm looking at my copy of Henry V right now. It's "breach." Act III, scene I, line 1.

    Absolutely wonderful. I'm writing my (undergraduate) thesis on the second tetralogy (Richard II, Henry IV parts I and II, and Henry V) and it's astonishing to think of Michael Brown as a kind of Falstaff in that the administration was all too willing to make him a scapegoat, purging him as a way of atoning for Bush's misdeeds. Imagine how different Henry V would be if, intead of dying, Falstaff returns to court and attemps to undo Hal's betrayal and destabilize his rule!

    Of course, the Bush/Hal comparison is utterly laughable. Go read the St. Crispian's day speech, before the battle of Agincourt (IV.iii.18-67) and tell me, with a straight face, that Bush is even remotely capable of that level of eloquence and honor. No, Bush is much more like the French Dauphin - who mocks his enemy, earning his wrath, and vastly underestimates his ability to wage war. He also overestimates his own ability and importance, eager for battle yet incompetent at it (see III.vii).

    Well, now that I've written something of no interest to anyone who hasn't read Henry V, I'm off to go, you know, actually work on that thesis... wonderful article, though.

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